In October, I'll be flying SYD-AKL on an Air New Zealand 763, and then AKL-LAX on a Air New Zealand 744...both segments in business class. How's the business class product (i.e., seats, service, etc.) on those planes? I heard they were refurbishing the 744s to upgrade the business class seats, but I'm not sure when that was/is supposed to happen. If this has not happened yet, how likely is it that when I fly in October the 744 will have new/old business class seats? I remember hearing that there was supposed to be a big difference between the two.

NZ will not have first class when the new product arrives. It will be Business, Executive Economy and Economy. The VS seats will be in Business as far as I know. By october you will have a chance of getting the new product but I don't think the whole 744 fleet will be refurbished before that time.
Try contacting a couple of the other NZ members opn A.NET, they will have a far better than I do. And I do not think the aircraft roster will be out for that time yet so finding out which AC you have will be a bit soon.

Well on the 763 you will definitely get the older style business class seats. They aren't that bad, but not great either and feature the following:

1. The winged headrest offers vertical adjustment for the comfort and support of taller travellers.

2. The lumbar support adds comfort to the lower back.

3. The seat reclines to a full 60 degrees.

4. The adjustable footrest has a large area for foot support.

The pitch is only 50 inches, so it is a little less then standard, but is by no means bad. I have found it comfortable enough to sleep in. On the 767s though it is a little narrow. The 767s are not as nice as the 747s. They only feature 32 inch pitch in economy compared to 34 inches on the 747s. You do get the most standard of PTVs. It will play some movies and shows in a cycle format. Not as good as it could be, but pretty standard. The new seat will be amazing compared to the current product. The removal of first class is fine since the new seat is probably going to be better then the current first class which is fully manual, not completely flat and has a small PTV. It is one of the worst international first class seats on the market and is very outdated.

The place were NZ excels is in service. The food is usually very good and well presented. The service by the cabin crew is second to none (including SQ) in my opinion. There is something about that friendly attitude that residents of New Zealand have that makes it great. Also NZ still staffs its planes well enough so that you get the good service.

Others have/will comment on the chances of getting the new seats. I personally would expect the old stuff, but you could always check yourself by looking if first class is available on your flights near to the time of travel since the newly configured planes won't have it. Overall you should enjoy NZ as they are a great airline.

If you have never designed an airplane part before, let the real designers do the work!

I've consistently heard great things about NZ's service, and I am very much looking forward to that, especially on the long AKL-LAX flight.

With respect to the new seats, I guess the only thing I can hope for now is that someone with first-hand knowledge of NZ's rollout schedule for the refurbished 744s can chime in here. How soon before my flight would I be able to find out if the specific 744 assigned to my flight has the new seats? My guess is that this will likely be measured in days, not weeks (and most certainly not months).

It would definitely be more than a few days before since the new planes do not have the same number of business and first class seats. You can't sell first class on a plane that doesn't have it. As for when they are rolling out the schedule, I don't know. However rumors are going around that SFO-AKL and LAX-CHC will be early routes to get it, but that could be because they are likely to switch to the new 777s coming online soon.

If you have never designed an airplane part before, let the real designers do the work!

Thanks, RoseFlyer. SFO-AKL and LAX-CHC don't help me much, so I'll remain hopeful. AKL-LAX is such a premium route, you'd think that would be among the first to get the refurbished aircraft.

I actually just went to NZ's website and tried to select AKL-LAX in first class for my date of travel, and it automatically gave me Business and Coach as the only two options. So, either this means that First is sold-out, or that this flight will indeed have the newer seats. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I have never seen first class on an NZ flight actually sell out, so I doubt that is the case. Anyways it could be that they don't want to put the new 744s on the AKL-LAX-LHR route until they have enough planes to operate the route daily with the newly configured planes. That route requires 3 planes (I think) which is why the new 744s could go to SFO-AKL or LAX-CHC since those routes do not necessarily operate daily, and only need 1 plane, so they could have an easier time selling the flights. Of course this is all speculation on my part from what I have read here and from other sources recently.

If you have never designed an airplane part before, let the real designers do the work!

I'll be flying on NZ6 AKL-LAX, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. By the time I fly, they will have already rolled out 4 of the 744s with the refurbishments.

I hadn't considered this before, but is there a possibility that my flight will be switched to a 777? I am not sure I have heard where they intend to use these new planes. In any event, is the 777 going to be equipped with the new style of business class seats?

Those 777s are going to be beautiful, photogenic aircraft! I'll be spending a day at AKL doing some photography while on my trip, so I hope I get the opportunity to get a nice shot of one of them.

From what I can gather, the 777s will be used in September on Trans Tasman for Crew familiarisation then AKLSFO from October.

It is highly unlikely they will be used on AKL - LAX.

BTW As was mentioned previously. the service on Air New Zealand is just superb - you will not be disappointed. It is consistently above average - better than Qantas who can be very inconsistent. We won't even mention UA!

First Class is no longer available for sale - flights after the first refitted 747 rolls out will simply seat Business Class passengers in the old F seats.
This was decided upon to avoid the hassle of passengers getting disappointed in the case of an aircraft substitution.

The refitted 747s will first be going to SFO in June, then the NZ2 AKL-LAX-LHR service in around November. So the changes of you getting a reconfigured 747 on NZ6 in October is minimal. However, call Air NZ and see if you can request a seat in row 1-3 (which will be the old F seats). They may be blocked off until checkin, however - so if they are, make sure you ask when you get to the airport! Because you're checking in at MEL, you'll be checking in before most of the NZ6 passengers, so you may get lucky!

If 767er's rollout schedule is correct then you may have a chance IMO since by then AKL-LAX-LHR may or may not have the upgraded aircraft and SFO may or may not have changed to a 777, so that will leave 1 aircraft over, since NRT will be the last route to get the upgraded 744's.

I fly on Air NZ business class fairly regulary. While it's true that the current "product" in terms of seating & entertainment is no longer cutting edge; this is more than compensated for by the excellent service and generally absolutely stellar menu. These things are far more important to me than how many channels my PTV has.

While i would echo the service elements on the LAX-NZ routes (well, CHC-LAX, NZ1 was delayed so i was moved to Qantas LAX-AKL! (good servce, ok food, very uncomfortable seats)) in C, the service from the London based crews falls far short of the NZ based crews- regardless of the interior overhaul, it remains NZ's biggest problem, imho.

The food is noticeable better out of NZ too- LAX food was ok, London food average.

NZ only crew their LHR-LAX flights with 11-12 cabin crew on the 3 class 747-400, so whilst they might not meet the same standards as their AKL based colleagues, they still do an amazing job considering NZs reputation, and that carriers like BA/AF/QF etc crew their -400s with 14-16 cabin crew, and carriers like SQ/VS have up to 18-19.

NZs AKL based crews are very anti the LHR base, and morale is low at LHR, with many leaving to join BA (as they are recruiting heavily at the moment), JL- LHR base or the new QFLHR base.

The on board crew really care about their passengers' experience and it shows in all classes (well don't know about first, but I'm assuming so).

Can't wait for the new business class fit-out, just wish they'd start a codeshare with Varig as I'm off to South America soon and that new flat bed would be great while grazing past Antarctica. Lan-Chile it is then!

hey Josh,
when are you due in Sydney mate? and why aren't you taking the flying kangaroo? i'll try to come over to Sydney if you intend to spot there! also, have you had any experience with UA business class product on coast to coast US service and any international on the 744?

i'm leaving you guys on UA for SYD on UA in J class all the way to Sydney in may!

a true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes, while everyone else believes the smile on your face.